2019 Season

[UND-FB-FAN]

21 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

This is one of the things holding back this program. Low expectations do not breed excellence or success.

This here is the biggest issue, which comes down to culture. Culture is built by the leader of the program (head coach).

Sad fact of the day: Bubba has yet to build a winning culture for UND.

in my opinion, he gets 2019 to do this, or else he should get the axe. It shouldn’t take 6+ seasons to form a winning culture.  The majority of folks around UND football still expect 5-6 and 6-5 records .......

not good

 

[UND-FB-FAN]

21 hours ago, UNDColorado said:

If you mean lower expectations by players, coaches and administration then yes. An opinion by a fan on a message board carries a factor of zero.

I’m afraid it’s all connected. Rubes on this website should be predicting undefeated seasons, not the opposite. Amateur hour should be overly optimistic, but around UND football it continues to be pump the brakes.

[Dustin]

17 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Beat NDSU 

f them f’ers

und football’s future has and always will rest on its ability to beat ndsu

UND takes a major backseat to the region’s fan base if they can’t compete with NDSU (see the previous 10 seasons for example). 

I agree.  This season poses a good opportunity to do it, too.  Might as well take advantage.  If UND goes 10-1 with that one loss to NDSU, NDSU will probably be 10-1 or 11-0, so we haven't gained in the effort to turn the tide.  Just beat 'em, and let the rest of the chips fall as they may. 

Here's a question that I've been thinking about for a while - who has more pressure to win the UND/NDSU game?  Us or them?  

[UND-FB-FAN]

19 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Watch the language geaux. 

Youthful eyes be a glancin’ ...

[nodak651]

4 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

I’m afraid it’s all connected. Rubes on this website should be predicting undefeated seasons, not the opposite. Amateur hour should be overly optimistic, but around UND football it continues to be pump the brakes.

It would be a lot easier to be optimistic if the coaches wouldn't leave predictably gaping holes in the line up go unrecruited for years on end.  QB for a while... and we've been talking about finding another DT for two years now.... Not even a juco came in to help get our hopes up.  What do ya know, its a huge question mark this year.  Special Teams, despite how much Bubba values them, have ndone nothing but regress, and he keeps the coach.   UND fans know the weeknesses of this team because the obvious stuff gets left on the back burner!  I think it might have been the 3-8 year where we had the highest pre season expectations and look what happened.

[UND-FB-FAN]

10 hours ago, nd1sufan said:

Lance learned from Stick and Hedberg and goes up against a much better defense that UND can throw at him everyday in practice that will give him every look you can imagine with better athletes. I don't think the almighty DC Schmidt that couldn't stop a backup QB at UNA last year in the biggest game of the season will fluster Lance into the fetal position like you are suggesting.

Unreal

[UND-FB-FAN]

12 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

It would be a lot easier to be optimistic if the coaches wouldn't leave predictably gaping holes in the line up go unrecruited for years on end.  QB for a while... and we've been talking about finding another DT for two years now.... Not even a juco came in to help get our hopes up.  What do ya know, its a huge question mark this year.  Special Teams, despite how much Bubba values them, have ndone nothing but regress, and he keeps the coach.   UND fans know the weeknesses of this team because the obvious stuff gets left on the back burner!  I think it might have been the 3-8 year where we had the highest pre season expectations and look what happened.

I don’t disagree. But it is an identified problem.

The culture needs to change. The weight of that all falls on Bubba’s shoulders.

[UND-FB-FAN]

To sum up reasons why I’m optimistic UND can reach 7 wins in 2019:

1) experience exists across the board, at QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, LB, and DB

2) specialists are 1 year older

3) Freund’s offense will utilize UND’s available talent; it will certainly be an upgrade to Rudolph at OC. Now, to what degree?

4) although DL is thin, let’s not forget that perhaps UND’s most talented player overall is a defensive lineman. I think the others can be serviceable. 

I think, if this team is managed/coached/led correctly and has a little luck, we see UND in the 2019 FCS playoffs. 

[UND Fan]

28 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

This here is the biggest issue, which comes down to culture. Culture is built by the leader of the program (head coach).

Sad fact of the day: Bubba has yet to build a winning culture for UND.

in my opinion, he gets 2019 to do this, or else he should get the axe. It shouldn’t take 6+ seasons to form a winning culture.  The majority of folks around UND football still expect 5-6 and 6-5 records .......

not good

 

I agree with you but now the most important "folk around UND" is Chaves and I don't think he will expect or put up with .500 seasons!  

[geaux_sioux]

45 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

This is all just a little too dramatic for me. I don’t agree with all of it.

 

i especially don’t agree with “Rudy broke Kett so he will continue to struggle when UND faces a tough D-line and LB combo.”

Ketteringham has the weapons around him and the coaching/system with Freund to have a great bounce back season.

I’m not just throwing in the towel already in August and no one who understands football should either ...

Dude wants to be a Navy SEAL after football, I doubt he’s broken. 

[nodak651]

11 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

To sum up reasons why I’m optimistic UND can reach 7 wins in 2019:

1) experience exists across the board, at QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, LB, and DB

2) specialists are 1 year older

3) Freund’s offense utilize UND’s available talent; it will only be an upgrade to Rudolph at OC. Now, to what degree?

4) although DL is thin, let’s not forget that perhaps UND’s most talented player overall is a defensive lineman. I think the others can be serviceable. 

I think, if this team is managed/coached/led correctly and has a little luck, we see UND in the 2019 FCS playoffs. 

I think this team definitely has the highest ceiling of any D1 team we've had, by far.  We could be.... REALLY good.  Super excited about the DB's and linebackers.  Defense has the potential to be as good as any in the country.  But the floor is pretty low as well with how thin we are at DL.  DL will decide the fate of the season, and hopefully a freshman can come in and shine like Ott last year, before he got hurt.. 

Anyone hear how serious Pierre's injury was?  Had him slotted as a guy who would get his shirt pulled, but the guys at fall camp have been mentioning other freshman DE names.   Who is the small dude that keeps getting mentioned?  Only like 215 pounds but still drawing attention?  Is his athleticism a surprise?  Whats the difference between him and any of our linebackers, because they would look fast as well, right?  Like why not put Rodgers at DE with how big he is, and more depth at linebacker.  What I'm trying to ask is how do coaches project certain people to be DE's while being so small?  What do they look for that make them think DE and not linebacker?  

[geaux_sioux]

11 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

I think this team definitely has the highest ceiling of any D1 team we've had, by far.  We could be.... REALLY good.  Super excited about the DB's and linebackers.  Defense has the potential to be as good as any in the country.  But the floor is pretty low as well with how thin we are at DL.  DL will decide the fate of the season, and hopefully a freshman can come in and shine like Ott last year, before he got hurt.. 

Anyone hear how serious Pierre's injury was?  Had him slotted as a guy who would get his shirt pulled, but the guys at fall camp have been mentioning other freshman DE names.   Who is the small dude that keeps getting mentioned?  Only like 215 pounds but still drawing attention?  Is his athleticism a surprise?  Whats the difference between him and any of our linebackers, because they would look fast as well, right?  Like why not put Rodgers at DE with how big he is, and more depth at linebacker.  What I'm trying to ask is how do coaches project certain people to be DE's while being so small?  What do they look for that make them think DE and not linebacker?  

Why not put our best LB at DE? Because he’s our best LB.

[UND-FB-FAN]

25 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

I think this team definitely has the highest ceiling of any D1 team we've had, by far.  We could be.... REALLY good.  Super excited about the DB's and linebackers.  Defense has the potential to be as good as any in the country.  But the floor is pretty low as well with how thin we are at DL.  DL will decide the fate of the season, and hopefully a freshman can come in and shine like Ott last year, before he got hurt.. 

Anyone hear how serious Pierre's injury was?  Had him slotted as a guy who would get his shirt pulled, but the guys at fall camp have been mentioning other freshman DE names.   Who is the small dude that keeps getting mentioned?  Only like 215 pounds but still drawing attention?  Is his athleticism a surprise?  Whats the difference between him and any of our linebackers, because they would look fast as well, right?  Like why not put Rodgers at DE with how big he is, and more depth at linebacker.  What I'm trying to ask is how do coaches project certain people to be DE's while being so small?  What do they look for that make them think DE and not linebacker?  

Donnell Rodgers is a senior ILB. He understands the fundamentals of that position (linebacker) and has proven he can play the position at a high level for UND in Schmidt’s defense. He was recently voted captain by his peers.

You don’t move players like that to a new position and hurt your LB corps significantly. 

The young defensive linemen need to step up as is. Let’s wait and see how it goes. Schmidt, now coaching the DL, has much work to do in preparing them. 

[Longtime fan]

One of the big differences to this years D to years past will be the talent and talent/depth at the CB position.  They are put on island quite often with how aggressive und attacks the edges up front leaving the safeties having to eye the middle .....10000% confidence und can go three deep and not see a drop off.  Sam fort is the difference maker imo.  The dude is legit and great size.  I’m venturing to 1st team freshman all American. Hopefully that will translate to an even more extreme aggressive front 7 knowing they now they are backed up.  The “smaller” young  DL could exploit certain teams with their speed rather than relying on strength.  Unknown but exciting times.    

[jdub27]

On 8/19/2019 at 11:18 AM, geaux_sioux said:

Fresh meat at qb for teh AC this year. His second career start will come against the Mighty Fighting Hawks. I look forward to Schmidt making his head spin.

I'm think I'm more interested to watch Freund go after the inexperienced secondary replacing 2 of the 4 starters with two starting corners that are 5'11" against UND's tall WR's. Good experience at the FS spot should help cover some of that up a bit but should be something UND will attack, assuming the OL can protect 3 step drops.

[geaux_sioux]

13 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

I'm think I'm more interested to watch Freund go after the inexperienced secondary replacing 2 of the 4 starters with two starting corners that are 5'11" against UND's tall WR's. Good experience at the FS spot should help cover some of that up a bit but should be something UND will attack, assuming the OL can protect 3 step drops.

Their secondary will be fine. They have really good players there that have played plenty.

[geaux_sioux]

 

[Bison06]

24 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Their secondary will be fine. They have really good players there that have played plenty.

I agree.

Hendricks is just a great all around player, having him on the field feels like having a coach out there in a lot of ways.

Tutsie is a guy that the coaches have had enormous praise for since he arrived on campus. I'm excited to see what he brings as the season progresses.

At the corners, it seems like NDSU has been able to find excellent players at this position as far back as I can remember lately. Whether that's coaching or identifying great players in the recruiting process, this seems to be a position that continues to surprise me with how they can just plug new guys in and they play very well.

This is the most interested I have been in an NDSU football season in years. So much change, it'll be interesting to see how/if it all comes together.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

4 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

5 losses is unacceptable. Expectations have been too low for too long. 

Based on the difficulty of the schedule, I’ll say 4 losses is reasonable for this season only.

i expect 7-4, anything less is disappointment. UND has to be able to win all their home games. No more let downs like last season vs Idaho State 

I agree that 5 losses on any schedule is unacceptable but this is my prediction and that's all it is. 

I would hope the expectations of the players and the staff are much higher, and I'm sure they are. 

But you're replying to my prediction as though I'm letting the team down and my expectations have some sort of real effect on something...anything.

 

[AJS]

Really enjoying the chatter over the past 24 hours. Want to really dig into the D-line:

• Starter: Bennett SR (258)
• Two-Deep: Seguin SO (241)
• Three-Deep: Morrison SO (278)

They only return two players who were on the two-deep after Ott went down, it was Bennett / Seguin on the right side. For this discussion let's have them on the same side this year. That specific side will be an upgrade this year, with each (specifically Seguin) gaining valuable experience last year.

Now we are down to needing 4 players. 

• NG: Morrison SO (278), Lickfeldt RFR (263), Beach FR (267)
• End: Johnson RFR (228), DeVore SO (243), Moore FR (215), Schoenfelder R-FR (235), Pierre FR (256) *Injured-not sure to what extent*

A lot of inexperience in that group, but also talent. There's a decently wide net they are casting. Based on what they have behind them, this doesn't (and won't) be the best line we've seen recently, which is fine, but can they hold their own? Hold their own on the run, be disruptive in passing situations. Going back to casting a wide net, not everyone will be ready this year, which is fine. As long as most are to fill those spots, this can end up being an effective group. 

If the D-line was a stock, I'm buying right now. 

[MrEdway]

3 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

I’m afraid it’s all connected. Rubes on this website should be predicting undefeated seasons, not the opposite. Amateur hour should be overly optimistic, but around UND football it continues to be pump the brakes.

It is what it is. I have seen nothing over the last 3 years to inspire any optimism in this program.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

4 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

This is all just a little too dramatic for me. I don’t agree with all of it.

 

i especially don’t agree with “Rudy broke Kett so he will continue to struggle when UND faces a tough D-line and LB combo.”

Ketteringham has the weapons around him and the coaching/system with Freund to have a great bounce back season.

I’m not just throwing in the towel already in August and no one who understands football should either ...

Who the hell said I threw in the towel? Settle down poncho

My predictions were positive and negative, but mostly just explaining the differences I thought we might see from last season compared to this season. You coming to the conclusion that I threw in the towel for the season because I predicted Kett will struggle...now THAT'S dramatic. 

4 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Beat NDSU 

f them f’ers

und football’s future has and always will rest on its ability to beat ndsu

UND takes a major backseat to the region’s fan base if they can’t compete with NDSU (see the previous 10 seasons for example). 

Bad take once again. 

If you have one fluke win against NDSU and go 1-10 and NDSU wins another natty?? Sorry to say, the one fluke game won't trump the rest of the entire season and the entire region will still gravitate to NDSU 100%. Your hate for NDSU is overpowering your common sense. Or maybe you're just one of the people that you spoke of that doesn't understand football. 

I'd take a winning record and competitive playoff run over 1 regular season win over NDSU any day. Seems dumb there's even a conversation about it, so I'm hoping it's just exaggerated comments to show how big the hate for NDSU is. 

Obviously we'd all take a win over NDSU and a playoff run as the top choice. 

If I was from Cow U and came to poke around on this site, I would LOVE to see all the belittled whiny comments about how badly UND fans hate us and want to beat us. So much so that they'd trade in a broken season just for one glorified regular season win over us. That's a loser mentality  

[SkoHawks]

What happened to DE Honerlaw again? Injury right, but was it career ending?

[OgieOgilthorpe]

4 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Dude wants to be a Navy SEAL after football, I doubt he’s broken. 

He WANTS to be a Navy Seal? How does that exemplify anything? Someone saying they want to be a navy seal now instantly gives them a tough and gritty demeanor? Pretty silly logic if you ask me. 

Go rewatch the entire Northern Arizona game and then come back on here and lie to me that you didn't see a broken QB. Everyone on this board was screaming for Bubba or Rudy to pull him. But now he says he wants to be a navy seal so hey

I hope he had a great off season and can shake off all the jittery muscle memory from the 2nd half of last season. But I am just predicting from what I saw, and I say he is going to struggle when he's pressured. I think he will make some great plays when given time, but when the going gets tough, I just don't see him as the QB we'll want behind center. He doesn't have the right demeanor to fight through tough games, and unfortunately that doesn't bode well for the 2019 schedule. 

[Nodak78]

14 minutes ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

He WANTS to be a Navy Seal? How does that exemplify anything? Someone saying they want to be a navy seal now instantly gives them a tough and gritty demeanor? Pretty silly logic if you ask me. 

Go rewatch the entire Northern Arizona game and then come back on here and lie to me that you didn't see a broken QB. Everyone on this board was screaming for Bubba or Rudy to pull him. But now he says he wants to be a navy seal so hey

I hope he had a great off season and can shake off all the jittery muscle memory from the 2nd half of last season. But I am just predicting from what I saw, and I say he is going to struggle when he's pressured. I think he will make some great plays when given time, but when the going gets tough, I just don't see him as the QB we'll want behind center. He doesnt have the right demeanor to fight through tough games, and that's all this entire schedule is this season. 

OL was broken during UNA game.